This invention relates to a method of and to a carton for packaging a semi-solid bulk material, such as a block of unhardened cheese or the like.
In the manufacture of cheese, it is conventional to package a bulk amount of the newly-processed cheese (e.g., 640 pounds or 290 kg.) in a bulk package. Then, at a later date, the bulk cheese may be removed from the bulk package, formed into retail-size blocks (e.g., one pound or 0.45 kg.) which are individually packaged for retail sale or for distribution.
Generally, when the unhardened cheese is removed from its processing equipment, the cheese is in semi-solid state (i.e., while it is generally a solid, it will, under its own weight, have a tendency to flow), and a bulk quantity of the cheese (e.g., 640 pounds) is placed on a conveyor. The cheese was conventionally wrapped and put into a conventional, heavy-duty cardboard carton. However, due to the tendency of the not-yet hardened (i.e., semi-solid) cheese to flow, and due to the quasi-hydrostatic forces exerted on the side walls of the carton containing the cheese, the cheese has a tendency to cause the side walls of the carton to bulge outwardly and to further cause the corners of the carton to bulge, thus resulting in rounded corners for the cheese. To aid in future processing of the bulk form of cheese, it is desirable that the hardened bulk cheese block be maintained in a desired shape (i.e., preferably a polyhedron shape, such as a cube) having generally flat or planar sides and having substantially square (as opposed to rounded) corners. Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,924 which discloses an article container comprising a sleeve and having a pair of overfitting closure caps. However, the article container of the above-mentioned prior patent is of a substantially different construction and is intended for substantially different use than the method and carton of the present invention.